Trump can end his cruel family separation policy, and so can Congress
As a result, although Trump denies it, the Washington Post quotes unnamed White House officials as saying the president has calculated that he will gain political leverage in congressional negotiators by continuing to enforce the family separation policy that he claims to hate.
In other words, since we're being candid here, Trump appears to be holding the children and their divided families hostage to his political agenda.
At the end of last week, he suggested that he would not change the policy unless Democrats agreed to his other immigration demands. They include tightened rules for border enforcement, new curbs on legal entry and his signature issue, a border wall -- which Democrats adamantly oppose.
Yet the president indicated he is open to a compromise measure that would achieve his priorities. Among the bills that show promise is an offering by Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican who also happens to fending off a surprisingly robust challenge by Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke from El Paso.
Not usually known for compromise, the very conservative Cruz, is introducing the Protect Kids and Parents Act, an "emergency bill" which shows promise as a model for a potential compromise bill.
Mainly he would double the number of federal immigration judges, from roughly 375 to 750. He would authorize new temporary shelters, with accommodations to keep families together. He would provide for expedited processing and review of asylum cases. Within 14 days, those who meet the legal standards will be granted asylum, and those who do not will be immediately returned to their home countries.
And he would mandate that illegal immigrant families must be kept together, absent aggravated criminal conduct or threat of harm to the children.
President Trump could end his cruel family separation policy, but so can Congress. As with all compromises, if I may paraphrase an old Rolling Stones song, you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find you get what the country needs.
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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com.)
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